Blow-out preventer



Jan. 31, 1939.

A. J PENICK ET AL BLOW-OUT PREVENTER Filed April 17, 1936 bit ntentedJan. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES BLOW-OUT PREVENTER Arthur J. Penick andKirby T. Penick, Houston, Tex.

Application April 17, 1936, Serial No. 74,923

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a blowout preventer, and has particularrelation to the pressure head embodied therein. v

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 24,838,filed June 4, 1935, as to common subject matter.

An object of the invention is to provide, in a blowout preventer aspecial type of pressure headwhich will permit the passage of an innerpipe and its couplings therethrough in both directions and which will atall times maintain a fluid tight seal between the pressure head andinner pipe as well as between the pressure head and the casing head onthe outer pipe.

It is another object of the invention to provide a pressure head havinga top wear ring and an annular yielding or resilient packing anchored ina novel manner to the wear ring.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention has particularrelation to certain novel features of construction, operation andarrangement of parts, an example of which is given in this specificationand illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Figure 1 shows a side view partly in section of the blowout preventer,showing the pressure head therein and Figure 2 shows an enlarged,fragmentary, vertical, sectional View of the pressure head.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral l designatesa'well casing having the casing head 29 secured to the upper end thereofand provided with an inside seat 3. The upper end of the casing head isoutwardly flared also forming an annular seat '43.

in well drilling or well producing operations an inner pipe 5 isemployed. This inner pipe may be a drill stem, or a well tubing anditssections are connected by enlarged couplings as t. In case there isinternal pressure it is neces' sary that a fluid tight seal bemaintained between the casing head and the inner pipe; For that purposea pressure head, hereinafter "described, has been provided. Thispressure 'head'comprises a top wear ring 7 and a sleevelilrepaclrer tformed'of rubber 'or'similar yielding for resili e'nt material. The wearring 5 has an'externa'l downwardly converging annular face l-"shaped toseat against andclosely'iit the seat il'J -The inside diameter of, thewear ring I is slightly greaterthan' the outside diameter of thecouplings 6 so that said couplings will readily pass through said wearring in elevating or lowering the inner pipe. Bolts ii are fitteddownwardly through suitable holes in the wear ring and their lower endsare screwed into the cage it with their heads l2 clamping against theupper face of said wear ring whereby the packer sleeve 8 is held firmlyagainst the lower face of the wear ring. The lower end of the packersleeve 8 has an annular. groove it around forming an outer lip l5 whichfits closely against the seat 3 and the inner lip it which extendsdownwardly and inwardly and fits closely about the inner pipe 5. The lipit is of considerable thickness and has an inside diameter somewhat lessthan that of the outside diameter of the seat 5, so that when said pipeis extended through the packer sleeve the material of the lip it will becompressed outwardly to form a very close fit against said inner pipe.The lip it has the inside downwardly converging face ll to facilitatethe downward passage of the coupling therethrough and also has theupwardly converging face It to facilitate the upward passage of thecoupling 6 therethrough. The minimum inside diameter of the packingsleeve 8 is somewhat less than the inside diameter of the wear ring llso that the coupling t will readily pass through the wear ring but willbe closely gripped by the inner surface of the inner lip it. A veryclose contact will thus be maintained at all times between the innerlipit and the inner pipe 5 and its couplings while said pipe is beingmovedthrough the blowout preventer. The pressure head may be secured inplace or released by means of the clamps it fully disclosed in ourPatent No. 1,997,152, issued on the 9th day of April, 1935, on Casinghead and blowout pre venter. It will be noted that in accordance withthis invention, and as -to some of its aspects, there is a rigid cagewhich is internally larger than the couplings and formed externally fordirect joining engagement with the casing head,

and that a packer of resilient material is incorporated with the cageand has a depending annular part extending towards and axially of thepipe to engage the same, this annular part being diametrically largerthan the couplings through out its upper portion, but diametricallysmaller than the couplings at its lower end, and also dia metricallysmaller than the casing head at its lowerend'whereby the pressuretherein holds that part in sealing engagement with the pipe. By-thisconstruction the pressure inside of the casing-"head, which is extremelyhighin many cases, does not tend to fold'the yieldingrpacker backupwardly, but this packer will be firmly supported, and the sealingengagement between the blowout preventer structure and the casing ismaintained. By arranging the cage for attachment to the wear ring, thetwo can be inserted into the casing head as a unit so as to cooperatetherewith.

The drawing and description disclose what is now considered to be apreferred form of the in-. vention by way of illustration only while thebroad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A pressure head for a blowout preventer comprising a top, metal, wearring, an annular metal cage abutting the lower end of the wear ring andwhose outer side tapers downwardly, means vdetachably securing the cageto the wear ring, a sleevelike packing into whose upper end the cage ismoulded, the outer side of the packing being substantially flush withthe outer side of the cage and the inner side of the packing coveringthe inner side of the cage, the lower portion of the packing beingcontracted inwardly and having a minimum inside diameter substantiallyless than that of the wear ring.

2. A pressure head for a blowout preventer comprising a top, metal, wearring-an annular metal cage abutting the lower end of the wear ring,means detachably securing the cage to the wear ring, a sleevelikepacking into whose upper end the cage is moulded, the outer sides of thecage and packing being substantially flush and the inner side of thepacking extending inwardly beyond, and covering, the inner side of thecage and the lower end of the packing terminating in an inside, annular,lip whose inside diameter is appreciably less than that of the wearring.

3. A tubular packing for a blowout preventer formed of resilientmaterial and having an annular, openwork cage moulded into one end ofsaid packing said cage presenting a wear resisting end face and a wearresistingexternal area of said packing said packing extending inwardlybeyond the cage.

4. A tubular packing for a blowout preventer formed of resilientmaterial, an annular, openwork cage moulded into the upper end of thepacking, the cage being formed of wear resisting material and having itsupper end and its outer side exposed to form wearing surfaces and havingits inner side covered by the packing.

5. In a blowout preventer having a casing head provided with an insideseat; a pressure head shaped to fit into the casing head and onto theseat, the pressure head being tubular to receive an inside pipetherethrough and comprising a top wear ring formed of rigid material, apacking formed of resilient material, an annular openwork cage abuttingthe lower end of the wear ring and whose outer side is arranged to abutthe casing head seat when the pressure head is located in the seat andwhose inner side is spaced inwardly from the inner side of the resilientpacking material, the upper end of the packingbeing molded into thecage.

6. In combination a casing head provided with an inside, downwardlytapering seat, a tubular pressurehead shaped to fit into the casing headand onto the seat and including a packing formed of resilient material,an annular openwork cage whose top is approximately flush with the upperend of the packing and whose outer side is arranged substantially flushwith the outer side of the packing to abut the casing head seat when thepressure head is located in the seat and whose inner side is spacedinwardly from the inner side of the packing, the upper end of thepacking being molded into the cage.

'7. A tubular packing for a blowout preventer formed of resilientmaterial and having an annular, open-work cage molded into one end ofsaid packing, said cage presenting a wear resisting end face and a. wearresisting external face around said end of the packing, the material ofthe packing being molded through said end face and external face so thatsaid wear resisting faces will be substantially flush with thecorresponding end face and external face of the packing.

8. A tubular packing for a blowout preventer formed of resilientmaterial, an annular openwork cage molded into the packing the cagebeing formed of wear resisting material and having its upper end and itsouter side exposed, the packing having its inner side extending inwardlybeyond the cage.

9. A tubular packing for a blowout preventer formed of resilientmaterial, an annular openwork cage molded into said material, the cagebeing formed of wear resisting material and presenting a wear resisting,external area of the packing and an annular, upwardly directed end face,said packing extending inwardly beyond the cage.

10. A blow-out preventer for sealing a pipe having couplings, in acasing head, comprising, a rigid cage internally larger than thecouplings and formed externally for direct joining engagement with thecasing head, a packer of resilient material incorporated with said cageand having an annular part extending towards and axially of the pipe toengage the same, said annular part being diametrically smaller than thecasing head whereby the pressure therein holds said part in sealingcontact with the pipe.

11. A blow-out preventer for sealing a pipe having couplings, in acasing head, comprising, a wear ring interiorly larger than thecouplings, a rigid cage attached to said ring, said cage beinginteriorly larger than the couplings and formed for external directjoining engagement with the casing head, a packer of resilient materialincorporated with said cage and having an annular part extending towardsand axially of the pipe to engage the same, said annular part beingdiametrically smaller than the casing head whereby the pressure thereinholds said part in sealing contact with the pipe.

12. A device of the character described, comprising, a casing headadapted to receive a pipe provided with couplings, and having a seat, arigid cage interiorly larger than the couplings and formed exteriorlyfor direct joining engagement with said seat, a packer of resilientmaterial inoorporated with said cage and having an annular partextending towards and axially of the pipe to engage the same, saidannular part being diametrically smaller than the casing head sealingcontact with the pipe.

ARTHUR J. PENICK.

KIRBY 'r. PENICK.

